The 2021 Magickal Women Conference

We will be presenting our “Witches in the Grimms’ Fairy Tales” Lecture at 12:10PM EDT on Saturday 6/5!

This presentation will explore the powerful, endlessly versatile figure of the witch through the folkloric medium of the fairy tale. Focusing on the collection of the Brothers’ Grimm, we will begin with an overview of the brothers and their academic project, discussing how their nationalistic scholarship evolved into a book of fairy tales targeted towards children. Then we will turn to the witches within the collection, discussing their unique relationships to agency, community, and nature. The remainder of the presentation will focus on five different witches that appear in five different fairy tales, some familiar and some obscure: “Rapunzel,” “Hansel and Gretel,” “The Three Spinners,” “Frau Trude,” and “All Kinds of Fur.” For each fairy tale, we will provide a brief summary of the plot before identifying the “aspect” of the witch that is most relevant to the tale, beginning with “Witch as Mother” in “Rapunzel.” In the subsequent fairy tales, we will discuss “Witch as Monster,” “Witch as Helper,” “Witch as Lover,” and “Witch as Princess.” By illuminating different aspects of the figure of the witch as she appears in the Grimms’ tales, we will demonstrate the versatility, multiplicity, and power that characterizes her, even within a single, albeit extremely influential, collection of stories. These witches represent the many ways of being a woman in the world and the many ways women can relate to others – a rich repository of education and inspiration, they intrigue and enchant us, inviting us to let down our hair, jump into their flames, and take a bite of their apple.

ONLINE
Ticket prices vary per day.
£100 for the whole weekend of events.

Click here for more information and to register!